A man has been jailed for stalking his ex-partner and bombarding her with up to 300 text messages a day.

Obsessed James Gilroy loitered outside the home of former flame Joanne Monaghan and harassed her over a two-month period.

During January and February this year, the 38-year-old sent her 753 text messages and even ordered pizzas to her door.

Finally, on March 5, he was arrested after he arranged to meet-up with Ms Monaghan and grabbed her mobile from her hand before running off with it and “checking what she’d been up to”.

Now Gilroy, of Macefield Drive, South Shields, has been jailed for eight months after admitting one count of harassment at Newcastle Crown Court.

Locking him up, Judge Simon Hickey said: “Ms Monaghan contacted police first in 2013 because of your obsessive texts. That’s what this case is about - you’re obsession. It’s a classic case of stalking if ever there was one.”

Emma Dowling, prosecuting, said Gilroy and Ms Monaghan had been in a relationship since 2011 but had split in 2013. Peter Schofield, mitigating, said Ms Monaghan had “appeased” Gilroy by sometimes responding to the texts.